Computers Are an Important Part of Most People’s

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Nowadays, computers are an important part of most people’s everyday lives. This change has improved the way people live. By advances in the technology, especially invention of computers, human beings can do their works much easier than the past. They have improved the way of our lives (life) dramatically. The number of advantages that computers can bring us is very much so that its disadvantages can be ignored (Advantages of using computers are so much that disadvantages could be ignored).Cases such as save (saving) time or facilitate (facilitating) job and affairs and improve(ing) our communications are my reasons which will be illustrated in details as following. To begin with, by using of computers we can save the time (more time). In todays’ community, it is told that time is money. With the huge advancements in technology, people’s life has more (become) complicated as it seems. Each of us hasn’t enough time to do all works on time (No one has enough time to do everything on time).The advent of computers in our lives(life), we can save time and do a big part of works more efficiently. For example, instead of going to shop and buying cloths, I (you) can buy it from my home by going to its website and even I (you) have this chance to see which cloth is the top-selling. (or) As an another example, I(you) can choose my (you) favorite five-star restaurant or hotel a couple of weeks before my(your) trip to a certain place. hat shows that I can better manage my affairs(It shows that people can better manage their life and schedule everything). The last example is that I even can control my home or personal room by using of my workplace’s computer (The last example is that home or personal room can be controlled or and monitored by using of a computer in workplace). These examples show computers have revolutionized our lifestyle. The last but not the least, computers improved our social behaviors.For the very first time in the history, Social networks and websites have given this opportunity to people to find friends and know people they never met before. Nowadays, there are a few internet-organizations by which we can find our future wife. It shows that computers even affect our lives (life) emotionally. To take these into consideration, I can confidently draw the conclusion that there are a lot of advantages which computers donate us such as finding new friends or saving the valuable time so that its drawbacks can be ignored. . .

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 20

â€Å"Ohhhh.† Bonnie melted back into the bucket seat. â€Å"It was like†¦kapow! Zap! Zowie! Like†¦fireworks.† â€Å"You're smirking.† â€Å"I am not smirking,† Bonnie said with dignity. â€Å"I am smiling in fond remembrance. Besides – â€Å" â€Å"Besides, if you hadn't Called him, we'd still be stuck in that horror of a room. Thank you, Bonnie. You saved us.† Abruptly Meredith was at her most serious and sincere. â€Å"I guess Elena was maybe right when she said he didn't hate all humans,† Bonnie said slowly. â€Å"But, you know, I just realized. I couldn't see his aura at all. All I could see was black: smooth hard black, like a shell around him.† â€Å"Maybe that's how he protects himself. He makes a shell so no one can see inside.† â€Å"Maybe,† Bonnie said, but there was worried note in her voice. â€Å"And what about that message from Elena?† â€Å"It says that Tami Bryce is definitely acting strangely and that she and Matt are going out to check out the Old Wood.† â€Å"Maybe that's who they're going to meet – Damon, I mean. At 4:44, like he said. Too bad we can't call her.† â€Å"I know,† Meredith said grimly. Everyone in Fell's Church knew that there was no reception in the Old Wood or the cemetery area. â€Å"But go ahead and try anyway.† Bonnie did, and as usual got a no-service message. She shook her head. â€Å"No good. They must already be in the woods.† â€Å"Well, what she wants is for us to go ahead and get a look at Isobel Saitou – you know, because she's Jim Bryce's girlfriend.† Meredith made a turn. â€Å"That reminds me, Bonnie: did you get a look atCaroline's aura? Do you think she has one of those things – inside her?† â€Å"I guess so. I saw her aura, and yuck, I never want to see it again. She used to be a kind of deep bronzy-green, but now she's muddy brown with black lightning zigzagging all through. I don't know if that means one of those things was inside her, but she sure didn't mind cuddling up to them!† Bonnie shuddered. â€Å"Okay,† Meredith said soothingly. â€Å"I know what I would say if I had to make a guess – and if you're going to be sick, I'll stop.† Bonnie gulped. â€Å"I'm all right. But we're seriously going to Isobel Saitou's house?† â€Å"We're very seriously going there. As a matter of fact, we're almost there. Let's just brush our hair, take a few deep breaths, and get it over with. How well do you know her?† â€Å"Well, she's smart. We didn't have any classes together. But we both got out of athletics at the same time – she had a jumpy heart or something, and I used to get that terrible asthma†¦.† â€Å"From any exertion except dancing, which you could keep up all night,† Meredith said dryly. â€Å"I don't know her very well at all. What's she like?† â€Å"Well, nice. Looks a bit like you, except Asian. Shorter than you – Elena's height, but skinnier. Sort of pretty. A little shy – the quiet type, you know. Sort of hard to get to know. And†¦nice.† â€Å"Shy and quiet and nice sounds good to me.† â€Å"Me, too,† Bonnie said, pressing her sweaty hands together between her knees. What sounded even better, she thought, was for Isobel to be not at home. However, there were several cars parked in front of the Saitou house. Bonnie and Meredith knocked on the door hesitantly, mindful of what had happened the last time they had done this. It was Jim Bryce who answered, a tall, lanky boy who hadn't filled out yet and stooped a bit. What Bonnie found amazing was the change in his face as he recognized Meredith. When he'd answered he'd looked awful; his face white under a medium tan, his body somehow crumpled. When he saw Meredith, some of the color came to his cheeks and he seemed to†¦well, to smooth out like a piece of paper. He stood taller. Meredith didn't say a word. She just stepped forward and put her arms around him. He clutched at her as if he was afraid she'd run away, and buried his face in her dark hair. â€Å"Meredith.† â€Å"Just breathe, Jim. Breathe.† â€Å"You don't know what it's been like. My parents left because my great-grandpa's really sick – I think he's dying. And then Tami – Tami – â€Å" â€Å"Tell me slowly. And keep breathing.† â€Å"She threw knives, Meredith. Butcher knives. She got me in the leg here.† Jim plucked at his jeans to show a small slit of a hole in the fabric over the lower part of one thigh. â€Å"Have you had a tetanus shot recently?† Meredith was at her most efficient. â€Å"No, but it's not really a big cut. It's a puncture wound, mainly.† â€Å"Those are exactly the kind that are most dangerous. You need to call Dr. Alpert right away.† Old Dr. Alpert was an institution in Fell's Church: a doctor who even made house calls, in a country where carrying around a little black bag and stethoscope was pretty much unheard-of behavior. â€Å"Ican't . I can't leave†¦.† Jim jerked his head backward toward the interior of the house as if he couldn't bring himself to say a name. Bonnie tugged at Meredith's sleeve. â€Å"I have a very bad feeling about this,† she hissed. Meredith turned back to Jim. â€Å"You mean Isobel? Where areher parents?† â€Å"Isa-chan, I mean Isobel, I just call her Isa-chan, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's all right,† said Meredith. â€Å"Just say what comes naturally. Go on.† â€Å"Well, Isa-chan only has her grandma, and Grandma Saitou doesn't even come downstairs much. I made her lunch a while ago and she thought I was – Isobel's father. She gets†¦confused.† Meredith glanced at Bonnie, and said, â€Å"And Isobel? Is she confused, too?† Jim shut his eyes, looking utterly miserable. â€Å"I wish you'd go in and, well, just talk to her.† Bonnie's bad feeling was only getting worse. She really couldn't stand another scare like the one at Caroline's house – and she certainly didn't have the strength to Call again, even if Damon weren't in a hurry to get somewhere. But Meredith knew all this, and Meredith was giving her the sort of look that couldn't be denied. It also promised that Meredith would protect Bonnie, no matter what. â€Å"Is she hurting anybody? Isobel?† Bonnie heard herself ask as they crossed through the kitchen and toward a bedroom at the end of the hallway. She could hardly hear Jim's whispered, â€Å"Yeah.† And then, as Bonnie groaned internally, he added, â€Å"Herself.† Isobel's room was just what you'd expect from a quiet and studious girl. At least one side was. The other side looked as if a tidal wave had picked everything up and thrown it down again randomly. Isobel was sitting in the middle of this mess like a spider on a web. But that wasn't what made Bonnie's gut churn. It was what Isobel was doing. She had laid out beside her what looked a lot like Mrs. Flowers' kit for cleaning out wounds, but she wasn't healing anything. She was piercing herself. She had already done her lip, her nose, one eyebrow, and her ears, many times. Blood was dripping from all these places, dripping and falling onto the unmade sheets of her bed. Bonnie saw all that as Isobel looked up at them with a frown, except that the frown was only half there. On the pierced side, the eyebrow didn't move at all. Her aura was shattered orange with black lashings through it. Bonnie knew, all at once, that she was going to be sick. She knew it with the deep knowledge that overcame all embarrassment and which sent her flying to a wastebasket she didn't even remember seeing. Thank God, it had a white plastic bag lining it, she thought, and then she was completely occupied for a few minutes. Her ears recorded a voice, even as she was thinking she was glad she hadn't had lunch. â€Å"My God,are you crazy ? Isobel, what have you done to yourself? Don't you know the kind of infections you can get†¦the veins you can hit†¦the muscles you can paralyze†¦? I think you've already pierced the muscle in your eyebrow – and you shouldn't still be bleeding unless you've hit veins or arteries.† Bonnie retched dryly into the wastebasket, and spat. And just then she heard a meaty thud. She looked up, half knowing what she would see. But it still was a shock. Meredith was doubled over from what must have been a punch in the stomach. The next thing Bonnie knew, she was beside Meredith. â€Å"Oh, my God, did shestab you?† A stab wound†¦deep enough into the abdomen†¦ Meredith clearly couldn't get her breath. From somewhere a bit of advice from her sister Mary, the nurse, floated into Bonnie's mind. Bonnie pounded with both fists on Meredith's back, and suddenly Meredith took a huge gulp of air. â€Å"Thanks,† she was saying weakly, but Bonnie was already dragging her away, away from the laughing Isobel and a collection of the world's longest nails and the rubbing alcohol and other things that she had on a breakfast tray beside her. Bonnie got to the door and almost collided with Jim, who had a wet washcloth in his hand. For her, she supposed. Or maybe for Isobel. All Bonnie was interested in was making Meredith pull up her top to make absolutely, positively sure that there were no holes in her. â€Å"I got it – out of her hand – before she punched me,† Meredith said, still breathing painfully as Bonnie anxiously scanned the area above her low-rise jeans. â€Å"I'll have a bruise, that's all.† â€Å"She hit you, too?† Jim said in dismay. Except that he didn't say it. He whispered it. You poor guy, Bonnie thought, finally satisfied that Meredith wasn't perforated. What with Caroline and your sister Tami and your girlfriend, you don't have the first idea of what's going on. How could you? And if we told you, you'd just think we were two more crazy girls. â€Å"Jimmy, youhave to call Dr. Alpert right away, and then I think they're going to have to go to the hospital in Ridgemont. Isobel's already done permanent damage to herself – God knows how much.All those piercings are almost certainly going to be infected. When did she start this?† â€Å"Um, well†¦she first started acting weird after Caroline came to see her.† â€Å"Caroline!† Bonnie blurted, confused. â€Å"Was she crawling?† Jim gave her a look. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"Never mind Bonnie; she was joking,† Meredith said easily. â€Å"Jimmy, you don't have to tell us about Caroline if you don't want to. We – well, we know she was over at your house.† â€Å"Doeseverybody know?† Jim asked miserably. â€Å"No. Just Matt, and he only told us so that somebody could go check on your little sister.† Jim looked guilty and stricken at once. The words poured out of him as if they'd been bottled up and now the cork was out of the bottle. â€Å"I don't know what's going on anymore. All I can tell you is what happened. It was a couple days ago – late evening,† Jim said. â€Å"Caroline came over, and – I mean, I never even had a crush on her. It's like, sure, she's good-looking, and my parents were away and all, but I never thought I was the kind of guy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Never mind that now. Just tell us about Caroline and Isobel.† â€Å"Well, Caroline came over wearing this outfit that was – well, the top was practically transparent. And she just – she said, did I want to dance and it was, like, slow dancing and she – she, like,seduced me. That's the truth. And the next morning she left – just about the time Matt came. That was the day before yesterday. And then I noticed Tami acting – crazy. Nothing I could do would stop her. And then I got a phone call from Isa-chan and – I've never heard her so hysterical. Caroline must have gone straight from my house to her house. Isa-chan said she was going to kill herself. And so I ran over here. I had to get away from Tami anyway because me being there at home just seemed to make it worse.† Bonnie looked at Meredith and knew that they were both thinking the same thing:and somewhere in there, both Caroline and Tami propositioned Matt, too. â€Å"Caroline must have told her everything.† Jim gulped. â€Å"Isa-chan and I haven't – we were waiting, you know? But all Isa-chan would say to me was that I was going to be sorry. ;;You'll be sorry; just wait and see,' over and over and over. And, God, Iam sorry.† â€Å"Well, now you can stop being sorry and start calling the doctor. Rightnow , Jimmy.† Meredith gave him a swat on the behind. â€Å"And then you need to call your parents. Don't give me those big brown puppy-dog eyes. You're over eighteen; I don't know what they can do to you for leaving Tami alone all this time.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"But me no buts. Imean it, Jimmy.† Then she did what Bonnie knew she would, but was dreading. She approached Isobel again. Isobel's head was down; she was pinching her navel with one hand. In the other, she held a long, shining nail. Before Meredith could even speak, Isobel said, â€Å"So you're in on it, too. I heard the way you called him  ¡Ã‚ ®Jimmy.' You're all trying to take him away from me. All you bitches are trying to hurt me.Yurusenai! Zettai yurusenai! â€Å" â€Å"Isobel! Don't! Can't you see that you're hurtingyourself ?† â€Å"I'm only hurting myself to take away the pain. You're the one who's really doing it, you know. You're pricking me with needles inside.† Bonnie jumped inside her own skin, but not just because Isobel suddenly gave a vicious thrust of the nail. She felt heat sweep up into her cheeks. Her heart began to pound even faster than it was already going. Trying to keep one eye on Meredith, she pulled her mobile phone out of her back pocket where she'd stashed it after the visit to Caroline's house. Still with half her attention on Meredith, she went on the Internet and rapidly entered just two search words. Then, as she made a couple of selections from her hits, she realized that she could never absorb all the information in a week, much less a few minutes. But at least she had a start. Just now, Meredith was backing away from Isobel. She put her mouth close to Bonnie's ear and whispered, â€Å"I think we're just antagonizing her. Did you get a good look at her aura?† Bonnie nodded. â€Å"Then we probably should leave the room, at least.† Bonnie nodded again. â€Å"Were you trying to call Matt and Elena?† Meredith was eyeing the mobile phone. Bonnie shook her head and turned the phone so Meredith could see her two search words. Meredith stared, then lifted dark eyes to Bonnie's in a kind of horrified recognition. Salem witches.

Targets Marketing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Targets Marketing Strategy - Essay Example This paper declares that Kotler defined marketing information system (MIS) as â€Å"a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing decision makers to improve their marketing planning, implementation and control†. It means that MIS is all about gathering useful customer data that can be useful on the part of the managers when making important marketing decisions, planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling significant marketing activities. According to the paper in the case of Target, the use of MIS has a significant impact over the development of its marketing research and market segmentation strategy. Since Target’s prospective customers are the pregnant women, the customer information gathered by the company’s MIS enabled the manager learn more about its target consumers’ product preferences, specific wants, and purchasing habits and behavior. By tracking down the buyers’ history of purchasing habit, the company was able to forecast specific products that are suitable for the specific needs of its valued customers. In general, keeping the company’s target consumers satisfied with the products they purchase from a retailing company is one of the main factors behind the success of Target. To ensure that the company’s prospective buyers will remain loyal with the brand, Target decided to market its consumers’ products using market segmentation and the marketing mix.

Macroeconomic effects of Hurricane Katrina Essay

Macroeconomic effects of Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example Reconstruction activities are expected to restore the level of GDP to what it was before Katrina. Loss of wealth and capital due to Katrina would not influence GDP. GDP is a measure of current activities, not a measure of nation's wealth. GDP would not capture the economic impact nor the devastating loss of life and dislocation associated with Katrina (Reed 4). 4. Katrina's Effect on the Economic Growth White house economic advisor said in August 31, 2005: "Hurricane Katrina is likely to have only a modest impact on the U.S. economy as long as the hit to the energy sector proves transitory."3 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expected Katrina to dampen national (inflation-adjusted) economic growth rate by 0.5 to 1 percent only and reduce employment by about 400,000 in the second half of 2005. CBO anticipated that economic growth and employment are likely to rebound during the first half of 2006 as rebuilding accelerates (First 3). The following table summarizes the forecast projections (Reed 3). Table 1: Estimated Effects of Hurricane Katrina on Economic Growth.4 5. Katrina's Effect on the Labor Force Katrina destroyed the infrastructure of most businesses in the Gulf Coast. Workers' homes were also destroyed and the labor force decreased substantially in the Coast as people evacuated the area. When reconstruction efforts started pumping money into the region, new jobs started to surface. It would still take time to regain the labor force that existed in the Gulf Coast prior to Katrina. Job losses in the Gulf Coast would overwhelm growth in jobs across the nation (Reed 6). 6. Katrina's Effect on the Consumer Prices and Inflation It is expected that on the short run, consumer prices will rise due to rise in energy prices.... This essay is one of the best examples of analysis of the destructive impacts of Hurricane Katrina on the American economy. Katrina caused the dislocation of many people, who would need housing, access to health care, education for their children, and means to meet their basic needs. Destruction of bridges, highways, residential and business property represent a permanent loss in national wealth and capital. Congress has appropriated $62 billion for Katrina relief activities, which would increase budget deficit. Katrina destroyed the infrastructure of most businesses in the Gulf Coast. Evacuation of the Gulf coast reduced economic activities in the region in the short term, which decreased GDP. Resources that would have been used for investment and spending are now to be used rebuilding. Reconstruction activities generate jobs and income which adds to the GDP. Reconstruction activities are expected to restore the level of GDP to what it was before Katrina. When reconstruction efforts started, new jobs surfaced. Most economic activities came to a halt as a result of the devastation of Katrina. New Orleans flood accounts for almost half of the total property damage. Investment in rebuilding the Gulf Coast would allow dislocated inhabitants to return home. Reconstruction activities in the Gulf Coast would help cushion the macroeconomic effect of Katrina. Replacing and rebuilding the capital lost would enable the southern states of Mississippi and Louisiana to regain their abilities to provide their share in national growth.

Analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analyze - Essay Example The retro fad is brought too far, if it only represents a replication of the past, but this paper believes that modern retro is not about reusing old styles, but a revival of retro thinking that severely distrusts changing social, economic, and political conditions, and clamors for a need to redefine the relationship with the past, by modernizing its aspiration for authentic identities and depicting nostalgia for vibrant cultural norms and socioeconomic stability. The ongoing retro fad reflects the deep distrust of its users in changing social, economic, and political conditions, so the past helps them feel secure and hopeful. Retro, in this case, is not merely being â€Å"in† by being old. Retro stands for the values and goals of its original consumers. Guffey describes that retro signifies a skeptical perspective in life: â€Å"†¦retro attitude†¦carries a darker suspicion that recent social, cultural, and political developments are profoundly corrosive† (10) . In the post-2008-global-recession and post-9/11 times, some people are beginning to doubt basic social institutions. Marriage rates are inversely related to divorce rates. More people are divorcing and delaying marriage and having children. Many people complain of their depressed socioeconomic statuses, despite the efforts of Obama to revitalize the U.S. economy. Some people harbor fear for other minorities because of racial prejudice and their opinions regarding illegal immigration. All around and inside them, instability expands. The only way that people can feel secure again is to go back to the recent past, where values and conditions are more stable and reliable. On the contrary, Reynolds denigrates the pretensions of the retro fad and calls it an â€Å"emblem of the poverty of abundance† (115). This paper believes otherwise because the retro signifies not only material possessions, but the desire for social stability. Several people want to live in the past where they can expect what they expect, and not be troubled by uncertainties. In addition, the retro helps people feel positive. This is not the same as being idealistic, but looking forward to better times. Thus, retro style emphasizes retro attitudes that distrust the present and looks back at the past for hope and growth. By going retro, people do not only feel more confident about their present conditions, they also aspire to redefine their relationship with the past by appropriating retro values with modern demands for authentic identities. In the article â€Å"Dressed in History: Retro Styles and the Construction of Authenticity in Youth Culture,† Jen? argues that the youth uses retro styles to give authenticity to their sense of self. The youth, in particular, employs retro as part of the formation of their identities: â€Å"Authenticity is especially important to young people and is used as a tool in constructing identities through consumer behavior† (Jen? 388). Some of the youth think that the world is more artificial now than in the past because of its obsession with wealth and social prominence. By going retro, they seek to be more authentic and truer to their identities that are far from the superficial material norms of their society: â€Å"Appropriated as a tool of self-performance, the supposed authenticity of the object merges with the subject† (Jen? 396). They aspire to explore and to develop their identities by finding something that represents

Future geopolitical obstacles and economic development opportunities Research Paper

Future geopolitical obstacles and economic development opportunities In Central Asia - Research Paper Example Subsequent to the breakup of the distinct economic gape of the Soviet Union, the non competitiveness of the Russian and Central economies was spartanly unveiled. This was in particular clear in the state of their trading connections. Economic collaboration flanked by Russia and the states of Central Asia is tampered with in the present day by the nonexistence of significant, harmonized events in the area of industrial assembly and transport communication2. To attain competitiveness on the international market, Russia and the nations of Central Asia require to convey the idea of distinct economic gap to success not only political assertions but by existent actions on the subject of support in a number of areas of the economy. There are additionally a number of hindrances to advance in this industry. One of the major hindrances in the acceleration with Russia and a number of Central Asian nations are attempting to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO)3. This is a move t hat would destroy the industrial cooperation flanked by Russia and Central Asia similarly previous to its conception. An additional hindrance is the intricate geopolitical state of affairs that surround Central Asia, threatened as it is majorly by the inconsistency of Afghanistan. These factors make it complicated to draw the potential of cooperation in transport and communication in Central Eurasia which is flanked by Russia, the Central Asian Republic and additional nations. Politics and economy has been directly intertwined in the affluent history of association flanked by Russia and Central Asia which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)4. Trade between Russia and Central has its beginning in the Great Silk Road. Economic association flanked by Russia and Central Asia had had distinctive importance from the time of the second half of the 19th Century. These centuries have been incorporated two times in distinctive spheres: initially that of t he Russian Territory the secondly that of the Soviet Union. When the Central Asian region was under the economic control of the Russian Territory, starting 1860s to 1917, the nations of Central Asia had great right of entry to Russian markets, and Russian investment swamped into the region5. Central Asia started to run away from its economic and geographic seclusion. Powerful trade connections were made-up. States developed on the territory of contemporary Central Asia, on the other hand, lost a lot of their independence, in particular with regard to external economic affairs6. As Central Asia made stronger its economic ties with Russia, so its connections with other nations became weak. Generally, when Central Asia was part of the Russian Territory it stood an underdeveloped and entirely agrarian region, operating largely as a producer of cotton, silk and wool for the Russian textile trade7. The second stage of the Central Asian Union with Russia that went on starting the establish ment of the Soviet Union till the year 1991 as well had equal positive and negative outcomes. On the contrary the Soviet period was a time of unparalleled economic development equally for Russia and Central Asia. Conversely, the nations of Central Asia realized that restrained in the inflexible economic in addition to the political ideological structure of the Soviet System with its centralized structuring and management of allocation of resources. The connections formulated flanked by the Soviet republic in a number of ways contributed to little significance there existed even a formal Soviet terminology which is planned loss making enterprise. This greatly direct union in the Soviet time has led to the economies of Russia and Central Asia and other CIS nations that stand as independent in the present day. The immediate vanishing of the Soviet command structure,

Outline and assess Foucault's critique of modernity Essay

Outline and assess Foucault's critique of modernity - Essay Example It shall present Foucault’s ideas according to post-modernism and how it conflicts with the ideas of modernity. Then it shall seek to provide an answer to the questions raised in this introduction. A conclusion to this paper shall provide a summary and a clear answer to the issues raised. Foucault critiques of modernity are based on the anti-Enlightenment principles which do not agree with the act of matching reason with emancipation and progress. Instead, Foucault argues that the links between modern realms of information has led to different types of domination (Kellner, 1991: 65). His reports have added details to this domination through psychiatry, medicine, and criminology. His aim was to critique the trends in the current world order which makes issues from the more contemporary forms of prudence which appear to be natural, but are actually oppressive forms of domination. From his goals, it can be deduced that Foucault is a â€Å"complex and eclectic thinker who draws f rom multiple sources and problematic while aligning himself with no single one† (Kellner, 1991: 41). Foucault’s literature and philosophy is a critique of modernity and he differentiates between the classical and the modern eras of the post-Renaissance period (Kellner, 1991: 39). â€Å"He sees the classical era as inaugurating a powerful mode of domination over human beings that culminates in the modern era† (Kellner, 1991: 41). He also supports Nietzsche when the latter does not give much credit to the Enlightenment ideals in historical progress. In effect, Foucault believes that humans do not go through a series of conflicts to eventually arrive at an implied agreement of the rule of law; instead, he believes that humans use the series of violent acts under certain rules and then they progress from one act of domination to another (Foucault, 1979: 25). Enlightenment was deemed by Foucault as a means of increasing political power and of distributing it in the so cial field – eventually covering different aspects of daily life. Foucault, in effect, supports a position against modernity and this is a major characterization of his work (Grumley, Hegel, and Foucault, 1989: 11). The postmodern ideal does not support the idea of equating reason and freedom with each other; and it also does not support the attempts at making issues out of the different modern and oppressive elements of rationality. Foucault sees modern rationality and subjectivity therefore as a source of domination (Grumley, Hegel, and Foucault, 1989: p. 171). He also points out that knowledge and truth are tools for power and domination. Critique of Foucault’s perspectives One of the critiques of Foucault’s perspective of modernity is the fact that he rejected the advantages which were gained through modernity, including that of medicine (Kellner, 1991: 65). Other philosophers like Habermas believed that science and the technologies arising from it would not create any issues for as long as these technologies are managed according to proper rules (Powell and Moody, 2003). In contrast, Foucault completely discounted the benefits and progressive gains from modernity and science. Foucault believed that modernity is entirely disciplinary, and this generalization is a difficult one to support (Koopman, 2010: 3). His analysis has not exactly focused on what would end up being right in the end;

Global strategy unit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global strategy unit - Essay Example The analysis ends which a brief understanding regarding what measures the company is require to undertake so as to enhance their market presence. Aldi is a global supermarkets chain, with their headquarters located in Essen, Germany. The company has approximately 8000 stores located in different nations of the world. Aldi’s stores were first opened in the year 1990 in the U.K. There are currently 512 Aldi stores located in the U.K. Aldi mainly sells food items and beverages. Majority of the products of the company are the less expensive household items and most of these products are Aldi’s own brand. In order to sustain competition, enhance sales and attract a larger target market, the company incorporates selling a number of branded items. The number or brands sold by Aldi in their electronics and kitchen appliance category have also enhanced in the recent times. The company also provides weekly and seasonal discounts on it more expensive category of products. Such discount items also includes clothes, flowers, toys and stationeries. Internationally the stores of Aldi are subdivided into two groups, Aldi Nord a nd Aldi Sud. The U.K chain of Aldi stores fall in the Aldi Sud Category. Over the years, successful business operation and suitable market strategies have facilitated Aldi into becoming one of the valuable retail chains globally. In the U.K the operations of the company are mainly based upon the limited assortment technique. According to this concept, high quality products are restricted to a small number of brands and categories, to be purchased in bulk and sold at competitive prices. Every business activity of the company is undertaken with the motive of creating savings. Discounts are usually seen to be passed on to the consumers through the end selling prices (Barney, 1991). The current project aims to analyse the corporate and business strategies of Aldi in the U.K and accordingly understand the viability of firm’s

Film Editing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film Editing - Essay Example Editors are important professionals in the movies and film making industry. The camera operators are obligated to operate the cameras manually but work with the directors, of photography, in the film making process. The editor is supposed to take shots from various scenes in the scenes from different angles as well as different perspectives and arrange them to tell the story.The operators’ obligation of manually create a sequence of shots which involves a number of factors. The editor is supposed to integrate what the eye is supposed to capture within a given screening, choreography of the shots and integrating the knowledge of framing shots behind the scenes to enable the editing department come up with a clean and concise storyboard that focuses on the richness of the story or script. The editor covers a transitional gap that is between the actors and the directors (Weston, 1999, p. 17). The necessity of the professional lies in the ability to choose the right composition of the shootings such as the angles, lighting, and viewpoint, access to detail and appearance to the audience to integrate with a particular set.The editors integrate various principles of telling a dramatic story while including the fundamentals of film editing. The purpose of the editing in making the film is ensuring that every detail intended in the filmmaking is caught on camera and communicated to the audience as it was intended by the director. The editors represent a window through which the audience benefits from the film industry.

Paraphrasing of PCR methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paraphrasing of PCR methodology - Essay Example This was followed by further addition of one volume of phenol into the tube before centrifuging at 5000 rpm at room temperature. The phenol was obtained by saturating it with NTE of pH 8.5. The next step involved removal of the upper phase and putting into a separate microcentrifuge tube and adding one volume of chloroform:isoamyl alcohol mixed at a ratio of 24:1. The mixture was then centrifuged for 10 minutes at 5000rpm. The last three procedures were conducted (X4) making certain that no material remained at the interphase. The preparation was then removed and 2 volumes of 100% ice cold ethanol added following a previous addition of 1/20 volume of 3M sodium acetate. This was then centrifuged again at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes to obtain DNA pellets that were left to dry. Later, they were suspended in a 50Â µl TE buffer such as 10mM EDTA. This allowed for quantification and assessment of the purity of the DNA using a nanodrop spectrophometer 2000C series. The first step involved calibration of the Eppendorf and Sartorius Biohit pipettes. This was done to ensure that they provide accurate readings. The actual preparation of the mixture entailed adding 2.5ul of 10X ionic buffer, 0.5ul dNTPs, 0.75ul MgCl2, 0.5ul GAPDH forward primer, 0.5ul GAPDH reverse primer, 0.1 Taq, 18.15ul molecular water and 2ul of DNA Template designated THP1. Each 0.2ml PCR tube was filled with 25ul of the supermix. The supermix, DNA template and the primer values of the consecutive experiments 2, 3,4,5,6 and 7 will be changed to obtain the optimal condition of the PCR detection of the PTEN gene. Similarly, in the other experiments, PTEN and GAPDH will be the primers, which will use different cell lines such as HACAT, MM6, Hela, Caski and THP1. The PTEN and GAPDH primers are product of the SIGMA-ALDRRICH company, whereas the cell lines were obtained from the American type culture

Machine Elements in Mechanical Design Essay Example for Free

Machine Elements in Mechanical Design Essay Answers to Selectecj Problems Given here are the answers to problems for which there are unique solutions. Many of the problems for solution in this book are true design problems, and individual design decisions are required to arrive at the solutions. Others are ofthe review question form tor which the answers arc in the text ofthe associated chapter It should also be noted that some ofthe problems require the selection ot design factors and the use of data from charts and graphs. Because of the judgment and interpolation required, some ofthe answers may be slightly different from your solutions. AISI 1080. 28. AISI 5160 OQT 1000 is a chromium steel, having nominally 0. 80 percent chromium and 0. 60 percent carbon, a high carbon alloy steel. It has fairly high strength and good ductility. It was through-hardened, quenched in oil, and tempered at 1000Â °F. 29. Yes. with careful specitlcadon ofthe quenching medium. A hardness of HRC 40 is equivalent to HB 375. Appendix 3 indicates that oil quenching would not produce an adequate hardness. However, Appendix 4-1 shows that a hardness of HB 400 could be obtained by quenching in water and tempering in 700Â °F while still having 207f elongation for gciod ductility. 3. AISI 200 and 300 series 34. A hardness of 750 HB is extremely hard and characteristic of as-quenched high alloy steels, 15. The HRB scale is normally limited to HRB 100. 16. The HRC hardness is normally no lower than HRC 20. 17. The given relationship between hardness and tensile strength is only valid for steels. 18. Charpy and Izod 19. Iron and carbon. Manganese and other elements are often present. 20. Iron, carbon, manganese, nickel, chromium, molybdenum. 21. Approximately 0. 40 percent. 22. Low carbon: Less than 0. 30 percent

What Is The Relationship Between Geography And Relations Cultural Studies Essay

What Is The Relationship Between Geography And Relations Cultural Studies Essay To answer a question like the proposed one, it is necessary first to follow some steps that can guide us into the correct line to obtain the best response which not only will give the exactly solution to the problem but also it will let one fulfill the necessity of know and comprehend the context of the entire situation. Saying this, it is essential to know how the international relations work and what are they about, and off course it is needed to recognize the definition of geography to be able to create some bases for give a correct response and to have the capacity to establish a connection between the two terms meaning and make a reflection of how they can coexist and be related with each other in the daily development of life. Although, we need to analyze each of the geography factors that have influenced the international system, why are they about and how they have change their importance according to the evolution of the actors during the time; so we can finally come with a complete solution to the question treated, taking into account all the information recollected. This solution will let us create some general and specific conclusions that may be useful to understand the conduct of this system and come with a new perspective of the worlds behavior in terms of the international relations and the geography that would permit us participate of it in an active and conscientiously way. The term of international relations, to begin, refers to: a branch of political science concerned with relations between nations and primarily with foreign policies(1). Analyzing this definition, there is the word international as a strong factor, that involves not only more actors with different cultures, aspects, needs, and behaves participating in the system, but also implies an expansion of territory where relations are not longer realized in the national borders from each state, yet it now refers that human interactions are done in the entire world. The definition also shows the importance of creating foreign policies which can be understood as the plans of states to follow at the time of interact internationally. No matter how different international contacts between states have been, (due to peoples mental conception of the world, and the existing differences between the actors that affects this humans interactions), they will be always present in the history, representing humankind natural necessity of interaction, and they will be always affected by the decisions and behaviors of the representatives in the international system. One example can be taken from the old ages, where the interests of some international actors as Cristobal Colà ³n, were discovering new lands and persons, to increase the territory of the king and to open new markets with the India. In here, territory represents Cristobal Colà ³n wants of recognizing the shape of the world and the general necessity of creating maps to be able to go through the land and expand territory, wealth, knowledge and so on. As we see, international relations can be a complex system that shows the interactions between the humans all around the world, but having a deeply view, it is possible to understand and see that those interactions work according to more specific aspects of the actors, which are also related to the external environment where they developed their cultures, believes, wants and methods to achieve all the goals that they have on mind. On the other hand the term of geography, refers to: The scientific study of the location and spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena on Earth (2). Since ancient times, humankind has always been interested in knowing the surrounding world and before we knew the world as it is today, we used to dream with distant treasures in other lands, including not only the mineral materials like gold or oil that have a big economic value nowadays, but also new landscapes with better grounds that let us harvest and build new villages, territories with a variety of climates and may be other persons with differences in their physical aspect, culture and life style from who to learn new techniques and to whom we could teach or even colonize. In other words, geographers are the ones who investigate the distribution of all of the resources in the earth and how nature has gave to some nations what other nations dont even know but that they will probably want a need. According to the geography branch, geographers have an especial field of study, for example, those who have the population as the base of study and are in charge of analyze physical differences between races, are called human geographers; those specialized in behaviors and believes are called cultural geographers, and finally those who search all the territory, its location in the map and the advantages and disadvantages of that location, are the physical geographers. As we have discussed before, international relations have been evolving according to the actors and some other factors that influenced them, including ideology, economic, politic, and geographical aspects. It is in this analysis where we can notice the relation between the two terms, and it permits us the establishment of a new definition that involves both terms. This definition would says that international relations are the connections and interactions established by humans all around the world, whose acts are defined according to their personal culture, raze and territory characteristics. Therefore sometimes the relations become difficult when the differences between these aspects from each nation, shock among them. All this factors that influenced human actions are the field of study of geography. Starting with the analysis of the human branch, we see that there have been many differences between races on earth, for example black people in Africa have a strong physic which represents an advantage in doing hard jobs, or the natives in America with beautiful features and big knowledge of the nature. These varieties have influenced peoples behavior and thoughts of the worlds reality in each time. We can see as an example, that at the beginning, when the humankind felt the necessity of investigate and make an appropriation of the earth, international actors have interests on discovering new lands and learn from possible different cultures. They started traveling all around the world, arriving to new lands that were already inhabited by more developed cultures or at the opposite by cultures that, for being less developed, were also more vulnerable to being attacked and colonized, even when populations physical characteristics were as strong as the Africans. At this time, human thoughts were based on the growing, not only of the empires but also of their knowledge about the world were they lived; also the relations between nations were based on mutual recognition, acceptation and interaction. But after the discovery of new lands that were possibly richer in resources (human, cultural, physical), and because of humans natural ambition, the wishes of territorial expansion to increase wealth and power appeared on International relations field. Human interactions development changed from the ones that used to be, to a new scenario based on the pretenses of the statesmen in increasing their power, without caring about the means they had to use, like violent acquisition of human, mineral, and land resources taken from any place they wanted, even if there were established any other nation. In the cultural analysis, we can say that: All cultures change through time. No culture is static. However, most cultures are basically conservative in that they tend to resist change. Some resist more than others by enacting laws for the preservation and protection of traditional cultural patterns while putting up barriers to alien ideas and things. (3). Culture represents one of the biggest and more important aspects in international relations because of the strongest link existing between humans behavior and humans believes. Both aspects influence each other and make the other possible, therefore sometimes it is difficult to maintain some interactions between the representatives of different traditions, because even if the culture is somehow open for new changes, there will be always some kind of resistance to accept the external ideas that are different from their believes and ways of behave. In the history, cultures differences have represented not only difficulties to maintain commercial or diplomatic relations, but also the reasons given by some actors to initiate wars as the one in the Middle East with the well known problem land of promise, that hasnt been resolved and that also shows how different believes can influence the international relations scenario. Finally the physical aspect of geography refers to all of the specific resources inside any territory. Since the mental expansion of the actors, and their capacity of extend their physical territory occurred, territory has become one of the most relevant points to understand the international system, due to the fact that it has become the place where all the relations are done, therefore land appropriation has become the biggest want of the international actors to control all new interactions and increase their power and recognition among other states. Statesmen who have always looked for their benefits and profits in international interactions, understood that having richer territories with all kind of resources, and strategic locations, would let them achieve their personal goals, therefore all international policies in the different countries take in to account land and its characteristics to plan the nation behave in the international system. Therefore it is possible to see now that developed nations helped the developing ones to fulfill their necessity of power even if they dont say it in a direct way. To conclude, we have analyzed and proved that all human interactions are influenced somehow by some geographical aspects that are, were and will be always present in humankind evolution. Factors as the territory where we live, the culture that we have learned and our specific physical aspects, including behaves, are the ones that guide us in the international relations field. Therefore there is a big relationship between the two terms, and it is essential to study geography in the international system, to be able to be a conscientiously actor that participates actively in that big network, where all is connected.

The Implication of creative accounting on the firms

The Implication of creative accounting on the firms This project will explore several definitions of creative accounting and the range of reasons for a companys directors to engage in creative accounting. It explores the nature and occurrence of creative accounting practices within the context of ethical considerations. In addition, it considers the various ways in which creative accounting can be found and summarizes some empirical research on the nature and incidence of creative accounting. The role of the auditors in detection creative accounting is discussed, drawing evidence from several empirical studies. Then, it will illustrate the source of data, the sampling method and the data analysis technique that had been chosen for this research. Finally, the paper concludes with the analysis of possible solutions for the creative accounting problems. Chapter 1 Introduction Manipulation of financial information is known by several terms. In USA the preferred term and widely used is Earnings management whereas in Europe the favored term is Creative Accounting and also this term will be used in this study. The term can be defined in different ways. However, primarily it is a process whereby accountants use their knowledge of accounting rules to manipulate the figures reported in the accounts of a business. Further definition will be explored later in this paper. Creative accounting occurs when managers involve in changing the accounting figures to alter financial reporting. The motive behind the alteration is either to mislead stakeholders about the poor performance of a company or attract new contract and investment that depend on figures in statements. This research will apply the previous study in some scandal cases, such as Enron to find out whether it has same motive as mentioned by other authors. In addition, it will show the way in which managers have used creative accounting to committed fraud. The rest of study is organized as follows. In chapter 2 the literature is reviewed to pinpoint certain definition of creative accounting and explore the motives behind creative accounting. In chapter 3 the research method is employed to identify the relevance of creative accounting to Enron annual reports. In chapter 4 the paper will discuss major finding, recommendation and conclusion of the study. In chapter 5 different sources of the study will be listed including articles, journals and so on. Rationale of study: Many fraudulent cases had been found in the past few years. These scandals had been made by directors and managers of the organizations. There are numerous victims who suffered from misuse of the position starting from shareholders, going towards employees and end up with societies. Although most of these organizations have been audited by external auditors, the fraud has been occurred within the firms. This is because the auditors give only a reasonable assurance of their view on the financial statements and even some of them involved in fraud like Arthur Andersen. There are many people who are still not aware of how the company may use creative accounting in manipulate the accounting figure and hence committed fraud. This paper will explore the ethic and the way of using creative accounting providing with practical example. Aims and Objectives: To understand the meaning and explore definitions of creative accounting. To explore several reasons or motives of the using CA by companys managers. To list and explain the techniques of creative accounting. To understand the role of auditors and responsibilities in deduction of CA. To identify whether the auditors (both external and internal) play role in minimizing the CA in corporation. To find out the implication of CA on the countrys economy. Limitations of Study The research had successfully obtained the financial statements of Enron Corporation for four years started from 1997 till 2000. However, there was failure in collection the adjustment reports figure except for income and long term debts. These missing figures might be important to use in methodology for accurate judgment. Furthermore, the time to accomplish this study was slightly short to collect some important data for this research. Chapter 2 Literature Review There are various scholars who defined creative accounting (CA) in different views. These are as follows. Involves the repetitive selection of accounting measurement or reporting rules in a particular pattern, the effect of which is to report a stream of income with a smaller variation from trend than would otherwise have appeared. (Copeland, 1968) Is any action on the part of management which affects reported income and which provides no true economic advantage to the organization and may in fact, in the long-term, be detrimental. (Merchant and Rockness, 1994) Whereby the true financial performance of a company is distorted by managers for private gains (Klein, 2002) It has noticed that although scholars from different decades had defined the CA, they agree the basic concept of CA which is use knowledge of accounting rules to manipulate accounting figure to show the faulty result of the organization performance. The reasons and motivations of creative accounting Various authors have studied about the issue of management motivation towards creative accounting. There are many reasons. One of these was mentioned by: Shafren (2009) concluded based on his analysis of Satyam Company that the stakeholders are interesting on companys financial statements because there are mean to show how the firm is performed and its position in market. Therefore, managers try depicting these figures in such way to send positive indicator to the investors. The investors always attracted if annual statement is superb. Thus, to express this view mangers aim to modify the statement by means of tricks of CA. In other hand, the directors also have their own reasons as their bonuses may decide in proportion with the profit they made or reported. Lttner et al (1997) have also agreed that when the manger bonuses and stock options are depend on the company performance there is likely that the manager modify the figures upward to get the desired result. other motivation was mentioned by Dharan and Lev (1993) who Showed in their study of The valuation consequence of accounting charges that an organization used CA when its share price started to fall following the increase in share price which it reported previously. This reason arises when company face great pressure from a variety of obligations and constraints based on amounts reported in statements. For example: based on survey of US bank managers, they found that when a new bank manager hold responsible for an entity there is inspiration to adjust loan provision so he makes sure that any losses occurred by previous manager can be covered from this provision. Whereas Beatty and Harris (2001) said that mangers may manipulate the accounting figures in such way to reduce the burden of tax levies or to allow them to pay lowest possible income taxes by providing that the cost involved is less than the income tax benefit. Niskanen and Keloharju (2000) agreed in their research of earning cosmetics in a tax-driven accounting environment: evidence from Finnish public firms which is based on European companies that the corporate tax could be the reason for CA used by managers of the company. These are some of common motives for CA. However, the most noticeable motives are modifying the accounting figures to show positive indicator to investors and downward the firm income for tax purpose. Therefore, stakeholders should at least to be aware of these two areas. If there were more independent directors in the board then there will be less motivation or even it can be eliminated. Therefore, the best way in elimination this practice is not to know the ways that can be occurred but to appoint more independent directors. Techniques of creative accounting Largay (2002) wrote in his article of Lessons from Enron regardless of the high regulation exist in some countries like USA, the accounting environment afford great flexibility. The potential way for CA and the techniques can be found in certain areas. One of the techniques which can be used in CA as mentioned by Schipper (1989) is flexibility in regulation. He added in the article of Commentary on creative accounting that accounting regulation provides a great flexibility in choosing any policies that are set by International Accounting Standard Board, for example it allows the non-current assets to be valued either at historical cost or at revalued amount. Thus, if management decide to change policies of the company it may easy to deduct in the year of change but it is much difficult to be identified after sometimes probably after few years. Another point is the lake of regulation in some area existing in almost every country. AS it can be seen in Romania and Spain where there are few mandatory requirements for stock option and recognition of pension liabilities. CA can also be finding as the discretionary position of the management that may used in some items to obtain stability in financial position. This had explained by McNichols and Wilson (1988) that manager may decide to increase or decrease the provision of bad debts to adjust the desire result. The timing of some transactions also offers mangers the opportunity to increase the revenue and give an impression result when net profit is not adequate. For instance, company has an investment in historical cost which can be sold at current value (i.e. at higher value) where operating profit is showing an adverse figure. The third technique mentioned by the author is the artificial transactions that are usually use to manipulate balance sheet amount or to move the profit figure between accounting periods. This can be achieved by entering the related transactions with third party like a bank. Suppose an arrangement had made with bank to sell the asset to bank and lease back the same asset for the entire of its useful life. The arrangement consists of selling the asset at lower or higher value than i n an uncontrolled transaction and the compensation is from the difference of rental price. The another technique had explained by Gramlich et al (2001) in which they said that firms may attempt to manipulate balance sheet in order to change the liabilities classification to improve liquidity ratio. Most of time this manipulation is occurred to improve the investors perception. Although there is not much difference between 298 million and 301 million, investors perceived the latest amount more than the earlier one. The International Accounting Standard had been created to reduce or even eliminate the accounting fraud that is occurred by the management of the organization. However, sometimes IAS unintentionally play role in committing fraud by providing different ways of treatment of an item in financial statements. All of the techniques have one motive which is to makes FS more attractive on the view of stakeholders. The role of auditors and their responsibilities After many alleged scandal cases occurred in last decade, many individuals, such as shareholders have lost confidence on the audit firms. They are wondering the responsibility of the auditors in deduction the fraud and whether they played key role in committing fraud. According to Audit Committee Institute (2007) auditors should be aware of all circumstances that lead the firm to face a pressure from both within and outside the organization and thus, encouragement firm to involve in inappropriate earnings management (creative accounting). The independent audit should be often alert of the possibility occurrence of CA and should deeply understanding the companys processes in modifying accounting policies, estimates and judgments in order to assess these processes. Donaldson and Palmer (2003) were mentioned in conference the role that auditors played in accounting scandals of Enron and WorldCom. The auditors failed to resist pressure faced by the manager and therefore, accept the misleading financial statements i.e. they involved in fraud. Auditing may depend on external sources to verifying data. However, if the employees of the company have an intention to defeat the auditing function, they can cooperate with individuals outside the company, so even the best auditors will be unable to protect investors from such conduct at all cases. The role of auditors in minimizing the CA in the firm It had mentioned above how the auditors were involved in corporate scandal. However, internal and external auditors are also play role in at least to minimize these scandals when the audit standards, accounting standards and ethical code of conduct have been properly used. Ebrahim (2001) had mentioned in his study of Auditing Quality, Auditor Tenure, Client Importance, and Earnings Management: An Additional Evidence how the quality of auditors can be effective on earnings management or CA behavior. He used sample that listed in NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. The data was collected for 9 to 11 years. The sample included only the firms with fiscal year ended i.e. December 31. He found that the quality of auditor and the firm size had no relation with creative accounting. Amat et al (2008) argued in their empirical study of Earnings management and audit adjustments: An empirical study of IBEX 35 constituents the view of Ebrahim (2001). The sample of the study was collected from IBEX 35 index (Spain). It had collected a sample size of 42 companies for period between 1997 and 2004. The study attempted to explore the role of auditors in prevention of the creative accounting practice. As the result, this study had supported the significant role of auditors in financial market particularly in the prevention of CA practice. Clikeman (2003) mentioned in his journal of Auditors on Alert for Earnings Management that the external auditors are not only the staff who detect the CA practice but the internal auditors also have a duty and role in prevention such a practice and to comply with various requirements of the standards and Acts, such as Auditing standards and Sarbanes-Oxley Acts. The internal auditors have many measurements available to assist them in detection unethical practices. the trend analysis to find out extraordinary variations in revenues and expenses and cutoff testing which enables to monitoring sales and purchases in income statements of the company for the years end. These are some of the tools available for the auditors to detect any suspicious occurred and reported to the board. Director should be the one who should detect fraud at the first place as he is in position that allows him to access to every single part of the business. Thus, the government and the regulatory should have to improve the rules of the board of directors and management teams rather than focusing only on the auditors responsibility. Although there are many regulations for the auditors to conduct their work efficiency, there were many corporate scandals cases recently. This indicates that there are still some weaknesses in these standard and regulations. The implication of CA on the countrys economy Everyone is concerning about CA including analyst, regularities and government due to its impact not only on the firm but also on the countrys economy. The previous studies had found that the CA has a negative effect on the economy as a whole especially when it leads to large corporate scandal. One of the recent articles of these affect was by Hugh (2009). Hugh (2009) explained in his article of Creative Accounting and Italys Growing Unemployment Problem how the CA affected the Italy economy. He mentioned two types of unemployment benefits that are available in Italy. The Ordinary Redundancy Funds which applies in uncertain event, such as market crises and the Extraordinary Redundancy Fund that available in the case of bankruptcy. To benefit from this scheme, Companies cheating different states by sending their employees home under redundancy procedures and then informally re-employment and paying them under the table. The procedure will allow the firm to pay only 30% of the salary and remain will be paid by the state government. This is lead to the Italian underground economy around 15% of the total GDP for the state i.e. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 300 billion per year. The firms might benefit from the aid but they are distorting the market and discouragement the future of more productive companies. Others like Bernoth and Wolff (2006) had found in their study of Fool the market, Creative Accounting that the CA increases the risk premium. They used the portfolio model of five interest differential and modified it to investigate the implication of CA on bond yield spreads between countries. The modifying process of the model had carried on by assuming that the government might used CA to make the observation of financial position of the country difficult to observe. They found that when the country discloses transparent information, the CA increases the cost of borrowing significantly (if it becomes known) especially in the case when the market is unsure the extent to which the CA exist. On other hand, Sopelsa (2010) warned in his article of US Creative Accounting could repeat Greek Tragedy that US could face the same problem as Greece heavy debt if it does not control its spending and deal with its structural deficit. This is due to the engagement in CA for years by USA similar to those that occurred in Greece. The US government did not secure the Federal Reserve and government sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae into its financial statements. As the result, the total debt to GDP had reached to 85 percent and may going to be at 100 percent in two years. Thus, the situation would be worsening if it goes to the foreign loans. The government has to impose tight budget control, alteration social security, deal with health care costs and restructure tax system to generate more revenues. The CA would lead to economy bubble in country like US as had mentioned by Sopelsa (2010). Instead of blaming the audit firms or the companies that had been got into hot water (involved in scandal), the government should concern first why it is happening. Unfortunately, some governments are aware of what happening neighborhood or far away country but they do not see the problems in their own countries. They already knew the danger of the CA; therefore they have to find solution to avoid the fraud in the future. Chapter 3 Methodology This paper is restricted to secondary data that had collected from various source including journals (weekly and quarterly), articles, news paper, magazine, financial reports and so on. It had reviewed certain literatures which were collected from different sources (as mentioned above). Later in this chapter, the sampling, data analysis and presentation will be explored. Sampling of companies and Data collection The researcher verified a major accounting scandal that had been occurred last decade, such as Enron, Freddie Mac, Halliburton, Merrill Lynch and the recent case of Bernard L. Madoff hedge funds. These samples were randomly chosen from various cases. Last but not least, among these alleged fraud one sample had been selected which is Enron Corporation. The financial data of Enron was collected from its annual reports from the year of 1997 to 2000 (see appendix). 3.2 Data analysis and presentation The Enron Corporation US Energy Company was commenced in 1932. It became as a group of company in 1979. It employed approximately 22,000 staff in over 40 countries worldwide. It ranked in Fortune 500 as seventh largest company that operated in American, sixth largest energy Company and one of the leading company in communication, paper and pulp in the world with reported revenue more than $ 100 billion. In late 2001, Enron forced to fill up chapter 11 of bankruptcy protection after disclosed fraud and being sued by investors and creditors to claim their privileges. It was one of the largest bankruptcy cases in the US history. According to Holmes (2006) Kenith Lay (CEO of Enron) used creative accounting as a way to modify reports that allowed them to create artificial shortage by increasing prices about ten times. In this paper the financial ratios will be used to illustrate the affection of CA on companys annual reports. The ratio will be analyzed for 4 years from 1997 to 2000. Enron net income should be reduced in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by $96 million, $113 million, $250 million and $132 million respectively. It was also found that companies long-term debts should further added to the one which had reported previously. By the end of the year 1997, the additional debt should be added to give the total of $14103 million. Similarly, the extra amount of $ 561 million and $685 million should be included in 1998 and 1999 respectively to reflect the actual long-term debts of the company. The company should also add the amount of $628 million in 2000 to adjust its debts figure. These balances can be seen as follows: These were the major items which required adjustments (there were other adjustments which were not taking into account in this study). Next, it will show how the some ratios affected by these adjustments. Although the gap between the reported amounts is not much different from the adjustment balance, it is significantly important after cumulatively adding these differences for the years. Furthermore, these are information where only available at the time. There are additional adjustments required in balances for some other items, thus the gap will further increase between the reporting and adjustment balance. It can be found that the major change was in return on share capital which had reached to 2.6% of the gap between the two balances in 1999 (look to the above table). The gearing level was high especially in 1997. This indicated that company had too much debt. The debt level decreased significantly in 1999 to 65% after the adjustment that might gave to company a little hope to overcome the problem but its gearing level had increased again approximately to 70% in 2000. This explained why Enron had used CA as it wanted to hide what was going in the company. 3.3 Data presentation The below bars chart are an illustration of affection of the CA on the companys balance. 3.4 Finding It had been founded that after the adjustments in income and long term debts, there were significant changed in returns on capital and in net profit. However, there were other figures that need to be adjusted, thus the affection will be even much greater. Therefore, it leaded to misguide the public by allowing them to think that the company was in good position and it was a good investment to them but actually it was suffering from heavy debts. This was one of the companies that used the CA practice. There were other companies that exercise the CA, such as Duke Energy. As the result, there was a significant negative impact on that industry which in turn had badly affected on US. The accounting manipulation that had used by Enron affected investors much greater that what had shown above as some bogus figures were not included in this paper. Chapter 4 Conclusion and Recommendation 4.1 Conclusion Many corporate accounting scandal cases had occurred since 1980. One of the earliest scandals was an Australian Nugan Hand Banks and the latest case of Lehman Brothers and Golden Sachs. Yet, the will be many accounting scandals may the world face if nobody try to improve the procedures to prevent the CA. The paper had discussed various issues regarding to creative accounting. It had explained why the companys directors involve in CA to commit fraud. The most common reason is the one that mentioned by Dharan and Lev (1993) and it said; when the company wants to increase its share price. The paper had explained some of the techniques of CA which can be used by the firms including changes in accounting treatment, adjustments in provision of bad debts, movements of the figures between the accounting period and many more. It had also discussed about the responsibility of the auditors, especially external auditors, in corporate scandal and how to detect the potential fraud. In addition, it had also explained the role of the auditors in minimizing the risk of CA by disciplinary following the audit standards and some other regulations. The quality of auditors is also play important role in detection the fraud. Finally, the literature review warned the affection of CA on the economy. It had found that in some cases the CA increased the rate of interest and it would lead to heavy debt burden to country that exercising CA as what happened in US. Moreover, it would affect the GDP as in case of Italy. In methodology, it had talked about the sampling and from where the data was collected. Then, it had analyzed annual report of Enron Corporation form the year 1997 to the year 2000. It had found the earnings of the company that reported were difference from the one after adjustment. As the result, it had given a bogus report to the stockholders. 4.2 Recommendation Many issues had occurred because of the CA, some had already mentioned in this paper and remain were discussed by the others. Some are blaming the auditors whereas others are saying it is the government responsibility. However, there are many people are involved in the CA. To overcome the problems of this practice, the researcher had given various suggestions from different point of view which can be seen below. From the investors point of view, they can follow certain steps to reduce the risk of CA. The investors should not depend only on companys financial statements in deciding of whether it is worthy for their investments. They should also seek for second professional opinion because sometimes the F.S accomplished with material misstatement. The investors should diversify their investments widely and not to keep them in one basket. Although it is difficult to eliminate risk, the investors can reduce such it through spreading their security into wide range of companies or even investing in other countries so if there is any loss in one company resulting from the practice, they will gain in another one. Therefore, the investors can make profit from their average returns regardless of some negative investment that included in portfolio. From the companies point of view, they should appoint more independent directors to take care of public interest, thus avoiding personnel interest. This would lead to the more honest in reporting of the company situation. I case if there is a tragedy event, they will solve it in prudent way rather than using unwelcome practices. They should also appoint qualified audit committee with high level of experience and honesty to detect the material misstatement that could occur in the F.S. Moreover, the audit committee will take all the necessary steps to prevent such fraud. Whereas from the governments point of view, it should select appropriate standards and follow excruciating punishment against those who breach the rules. In addition, although there are some countries not allowing the auditor firm to provide more than one service, there are some governments allow the firm to provide various services to its client. This should be avoided in each country. Chapter 5

Gender Role Behaviors: Biology and Society Share Responsibility Essay

There are many different facets to the nature versus nurture argument that has been going on for decades. One of these, the influence of nature and nurture on gender roles and behaviors, is argued well by both Deborah Blum and Aaron Devor, both of whom believe that society plays a large role in determining gender. I, however, have a tendency to agree with Blum that biology and society both share responsibility for these behaviors. The real question is not whether gender expression is a result of nature or nurture, but how much of a role each of these plays. Both Devor and Blum can agree that society plays a large role in establishing gender identity. In his article â€Å"Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,† Devor states, â€Å"Gender role characteristics reflect the ideological contentions underlying the dominant gender schema in North American society† (Devor 571). Deborah Blum agrees to an extent in her article â€Å"The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?† As stated in her article by behavioral endocrinologist Mark Breedlove, â€Å"We’re born with predispositions, but it’s society that amplifies them, exaggerates them† (qtd by Blum 574). It is clear, however that the two disagree on the extent of the societal role in determining gender role characteristics. Devor’s statement, and entire article for that matter, point to a clear belief that biology has no effect on gender roles. Instead, he believes that our views of the â€Å"natural† behaviors of males and females are based solely upon the society that we live in, that we have been conditioned to see certain characteristics as â€Å"feminine† and others as â€Å"masculine†. This ideology sparks from the belief that biological factors make males more aggressive and dominant than fem... ...logy or society? Nature or nurture? In this case, I would say that the answer is that both biology and society have great influence on how males and females behave in their roles. The only question now is, to what degree do each of these play a role? For this answer, we may have to wait. The key thing is to know that nature starts the process, and nurture helps that process along.  Works Cited Blum, Deborah. â€Å"The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?† Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 6th Edition. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 573-580. Print. Devor, Aaron. â€Å"Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes.† Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 6th Edition. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 567-572. Print.

Great Gatsby :: essays papers

Great Gatsby The great gatsby and the fall of the american dream. The book 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald was an 'icon of its time.' The book discusses topics that were important, controversial and interesting back in 1920's America. The novel is 'an exploration of the American Dream as it exists in a corrupt period of history.' The main themes in the book are the decay of morals and values and the frustration of a 'modern' society. The Great Gatsby describes the decay of the American Dream and the want for money and materialism. This novel also describes the gap between the rich and the poor (Gatsby and the Wilsons, West Egg and the Valley of the Ashes) by comparing the differences between the Western United States (traditional western culture) and the Eastern United States (money obsessed values). On a smaller scale this could be seen as the difference between the West Egg (the 'new, money) and the East egg (the 'old' money). The 1920's were a time of corruption and the degradation of moral values for the United States and many other countries. World War One had just ended and people were reveling in the materialism that came with the end of it, new mass produced commodities such as motor cars and radios were filling people's driveways and houses, money was more accessible (before the Great Depression). Cars were becoming a social symbol in the 1920s as we can see with Gatsby's five cars, one of which he gives to Nick and one of which kills Myrtle Wilson later on in the novel. Herbert Hoover (an American President) said in 1925 "We will root out poverty and put two cars in every garage." The parties that Gatsby held every week in the summer were a symbol of the carelessness of the time. Gatsby would hide in the house while the 'guests', most of whom were not even invited, would party, eat and drink until the early hours of the morning without even meeting the guest or even knowing who he was. People would turn up just to be seen or reported in the local newspapers "In his blue garden people came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne." This shows the carelessness of the guests. Another quote about the parties refers to the way the guests devour the endless supply of food and never give a thought as to who gave it to them. "Every Friday five crates of oranges and Lemons arrived from a fruiterer In New York- Every Monday these same oranges

Transcendentalism :: essays research papers

Although the transcendentalism movement was an extremely long time ago the ideas are still pertinent today. When Henry David Thoreau said, 'Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak';(247), that he would be telling people to be themselves many generations later.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The transcendentalism movement took place during the early 1800's when America was developing its own writing style. The authors of the time all thought in the same wavelength. Some of them, such as Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson belonged to a transcendentalism club in which they shared their ideas. Thoreau had ideas that he firmly believed in and tried to act upon his ideas. He wanted to live in solitude and be one with nature, so he went to Walden Pond and was semi-secluded from society. Except for a couple of times when he went to the nearby town for things he needed he was on his own. He did well with it, but wanted to move on with his life so he left Walden. After his experience, he decided to write about it in his book, Walden Pond. Thoreau tried to live his life based on his ideas no matter how extreme they may have been.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These transcendentalists had many ideas that seemed to others to be extremely impractical. The authors thought that they could transform the world through their ideas. One of their main ideas was that we are all true individuals and should not conform to whatever the 'norm'; is. Thoreau tells us to live our own life, whether it be good or bad, it is ours. 'However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it or call it hard names';(247). Also, we should do the morally right thing. We should do what our heart says is right and not always listen to our heads. They also wrote in an optimistic view and their writings were very inspiring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All of their ideas are relevant today on some level. People are reading Emerson and Thoreau as though they were on the current best sellers list. Not everybody reads the material because they are assigned it, but rather they are using it as a tool to find out how to live their lives. All of our lives we are told to be ourselves and not to go along with the crowd, and that is the same thing Thoreau said over a century ago.

Historical King Arthur Essay

King Arthur is one of the most well known historical figures of all time. One of the most interesting debates surrounding the legends and tales of King Arthur is whether or not he truly existed. The debate has its roots in the Renaissance time when Arthur’s existence was defended as the basis for the Tudor monarchs to trace their ancestry back to King Arthur as a way to hold onto their reign. Modern historians argue that a King Arthur may have existed though he was not the same King Arthur in the much loved legends and tales that have been passed down from generation to generation. This debate will continue as there has been no logical proof that King Arthur did actually exist (The Camelot Project, 1). At the same time, the influence of King Arthur will remain an important part of history as well. King Arthur has had a significant influence on literature, art, music and society as far back as the Middle Ages. The legend of Arthur projects him as a great legendary British king born to Uther Pendragon and Igraine. Some versions of the legend also include information regarding three half sisters of Arthur. Arthur married Guinevere and legend says they had no children together although Arthur did father children. Some versions of the Arthur legend contend that Perlesvaus was fathered by Arthur and Guinevere but other versions say this is not so (Joe, 1). Further, in various versions of the legend, Arthur’s son had different names. One legend states that Arthur killed his son while another says his son died after being attacked by a wild boar (Joe, 1). These ancestorial facts are unclear and vary across different versions of the legends which is perhaps one reason why the existence of a real King Arthur is so heavily debated. There has been no archeological evidence that a real King Arthur ever existed. Without absolute proof it is difficult to separate potential facts from the many legends that surround King Arthur (Joe, 1). Perhaps the reason why the legend of King Arthur is so popular is because King Arthur was a bright light in the face of treachery and darkness (Snell, 1). King Arthur brought peace to his land by defending it from every danger and also expanding his empire to encompass great amounts of land. Under the command of King Arthur, a group of knights helped the helpless, battled evil and scoured the land for holy relics. The courageous nature of King Arthur makes him a true hero that many generations of people have looked up to. He gave people hope in sorrowful times by being the type of ruler that looked out for the weak and the poor. Despite the fact that King Arthur is so loved and admired, he remains a legend. There is no existing proof that can provide without a doubt that King Arthur is a true historical figure. Instead, the legend of King Arthur will remain a legend (Snell, 1). The vast amount of literature and other media that focus on King Arthur may cause some people to assume that these stories are based in part on fact. However, there is no evidence that any of the facts surrounding the legend of King Arthur are true. Part of the reason why so many people assume that King Arthur is a true historical figure may be based on The History of the Kings of Britain which details the life and rule of the exalted King Arthur (Snell, 1). This historical document provides so many in depth details about King Arthur that many find it hard to argue with. However, the reference for this document has never been found so the facts included within cannot be proven. Further, some are of the opinion that the author of this document, Geoffrey of Monmouth, wrote the history in order to make others view his people in a more positive light (Snell, 1). There are many scholarly facts that aid in disproving the actual existence of King Arthur. These are the facts that enable King Arthur to keep his place in history as one of the most noble and well loved kings of all time. Legend holds that King Arthur was able to single handedly lead an assault that left nine hundred dead and allowed him to reign as king for nearly one hundred years. Legend also holds that King Arthur fought giants and strange beasts and was led by a red dragon (Ogden-Korus, 1). Since none of these mythological creatures or fantastic feats are possible, it can be assumed that King Arthur is a legend as well. This leads to the goal of many scholars. They wish to uncover facts that may prove whether there really was a King Arthur behind all the folklore (Ogden-Korus, 1). So far, they have been unsuccessful in proving that King Arthur ever did exist so he remains a legend to this day. In order to find proof of King Arthur, many archeologists have attempted to find concrete evidence that can be directly traced to the legendary king. There is very little evidence in Britain that can be traced back to the time of King Arthur. For example, the primary building tool during King Arthur’s time was wood, which completely decomposes over time and would not provide any proof of the existence of King Arthur. Further, the field of archeology cannot deal with specifics (Ogden-Korus, 1). Instead, archeologists analyze existing evidence and make educated guesses regarding ancient history. With regards to the place and times of King Arthur, these educated guesses have led to the conclusion that King Arthur is simply a legend. One of the most common associations with King Arthur is Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. However, this connection cannot be considered fact. The legend of King Arthur is said to have lived during the sixth century but the creation of Camelot did not come into existence until the twelfth century when it became a part of literature (Ogden-Korus, 1). There are other more compelling discoveries that have aided in spreading the opinion that King Arthur did once exist. However, this evidence, while compelling, is not concrete. For example, Tintagel Castle, the alleged birthplace of King Arthur was a thirteenth century castle so it could not have existed during the time of King Arthur. However, in 1998, an archeological dig at Tintagel Castle uncovered a sixth century fort underneath the castle (Giger, 1). This evidence alone does not point to the existence of King Arthur. There are many sixth century forts in England and Wales and the discovery of this one does not provide concrete evidence that King Arthur ever existed – only that a sixth century fort existed where legend says that King Arthur was born (Giger, 1). This type of evidence is exciting and motivates historians and scholars to continue their search for evidence that King Arthur did exist. However, at this time no concrete evidence has been discovered to prove the King Arthur was anything more than a legend. Despite the fact that there is no definitive proof that King Arthur ever existed, there have been many myths that surround his name. Camelot is the perhaps the most well known myth that surrounds the legend of King Arthur. As previously discussed, Camelot did not come into existence until it was included in literature in the twelfth century (Ogden-Korus, 1). Camelot is the most well known and famous castle associated with King Arthur. Experts agree that Camelot is most likely a fictional place because its exact location is unknown. â€Å"Camelot, located no where in particular, can be anywhere† (Lacy, 67). The myth of Camelot has been allowed to spread because of how much people respect and admire the legend of King Arthur. The various versions of the myths surrounding King Arthur often contradict one another but people are willing to overlook such discrepancies because the writings about King Arthur are so captivating and entertaining (Miller, 1). People want to believe that such a magnificent person could really have existed so they get caught up in the myths surrounding King Arthur and begin to believe that he was a real person. Another myth that the legend of King Arthur has influenced is the legend of Lancelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Lancelot is considered one of the best and one of the worst knights in the court of King Arthur (Sir Lancelot Online, 1). Lancelot is a creation of literature that emerged at the same time that Camelot did. In this portrayal, Lancelot becomes the most valuable knight of King Arthur. He was chivalrous and brave and accomplished many important tasks including rescuing Guinevere from Meleagant and once again rescuing her from being burned to death for committing adultery with him (Sir Lancelot Online, 1). Sir Lancelot helped contribute to the myths surrounding King Arthur because his heroic deeds made King Arthur look good. Ultimately, Lancelot betrays King Arthur by committing adultery with Guinevere but this too makes King Arthur look good because people pity him for the wrongs committed against him. Another important and famous myth surrounding King Arthur that has contributed to the admiration of many is his sword, Excalibur. Excalibur is said to have magical powers. Part of the reason why the myth of Excalibur makes King Arthur so admired is because some versions of the myth discuss how King Arthur pulled the sword from a stone thus making himself appear magical and strong. However, other versions of the myth keep Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone separate. The myth that includes King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone provides some with evidence that he was a true king because only a true king would be able to even pull the sword out of the stone. Other versions say that Excalibur was a sword the King Arthur obtained through Merlin from the Lady of the Lake (Ford, 1). The fact that King Arthur used such powerful weapons also provides a compelling reason why so many people believe in the power of King Arthur. These weapons are also part of the reason why King Arthur has survived throughout history as one of the most revered kings of all time. One final aspect of the legend of King Arthur that has enabled him to live throughout history is the myth of Merlin. Merlin is a well known wizard that mentored King Arthur. Merlin had supernatural powers and abilities and is said to have engineered the birth of King Arthur through his magical powers (Briggs, 440). The magical powers that surrounded Merlin were of enormous benefit to King Arthur because they enabled him to accomplish great things. These great things are what has allowed King Arthur to become as legendary as he remains today. King Arthur is a real historical figure in that many people truly believe that he actually existed. This belief has been passed down from generation to generation so that the legend of King Arthur has become real to so many people. The fantastic accomplishments that are credited to King Arthur make him a much loved and respected ruler. At the same time, the magic and mystic that surround King Arthur provide a sense of mystery that captivates people into believing the myths. These myths have allowed King Arthur to rise in prestige and remain so popular. However, there is no historical or archeological proof that King Arthur ever existed. If such proof is out there it has yet to be discovered. The fact that the legend of King Arthur is so well known and loved has allowed the myths associated with the legendary king to become valid parts of the King Arthur legend. For example, most people do not realize that Camelot and Lancelot are fictional creations that came into existence some five hundred years after the time of King Arthur. These myths have provided King Arthur with a reputation of greatness that cannot be based on historical fact. At the same time, there is no harm in allowing people to believe that King Arthur was real because in the hearts of many King Arthur was real. There is no definitive data to back this assumption up but this does not deter many people from believing in the existence of King Arthur. In the end, history has not proven that King Arthur truly existed but literature and movies have created a character that is so loved that he has become â€Å"real† and he will remain â€Å"real† as long as people continue to be captivated by the legend of the King Arthur and the myths that surround him. Briggs, Katharine Mary. An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies and Other Supernatural Creatures. New York: Pantheon Books, 1976. 440. Ford, David Nash. â€Å"Excalibur. † Brittania. 2000. 17 Feb 2009 . Giger, Remus. â€Å"In Search of†¦ King Arthur. † Associated Content. 2007. 17 Feb 2009 . Joe, Jimmy. â€Å"King Arthur. † Timeless Myths. 1999. 17 Feb 2009 . Lacy, Norris J. â€Å"Camelot. † The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 1991. 67. Miller, Michael D. â€Å"The True Story. † Camelot: The True Story. Moffat, CO: Rideout Publishing, 2008. Ogden-Korus, Erin. â€Å"An Archeological Quest for the ‘Real’ King Arthur. 1999. 17 Feb 2009 . Sir Lancelot Online. â€Å"Sir Lancelot of the Lake. † 17 Feb 2009 . Snell, Melissa. â€Å"The Truth of Arthur. A Legendary King. † About. com: Medieval History. 1999. 17 Feb 2009 . The Camelot Project. â€Å"Historical Arthur. † King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. 2001. 17 Feb 2009 .